Questions to Ask When Hiring an Accountant
These are the questions to ask an accountant before hiring one, whether you are choosing an accountant for a household's taxes or looking for a business accountant to take on the books and the filings. The 64 questions run in the order the decision does: credentials and fit, how the work gets done, fees, the points that only matter for a business, advice during the year, and what to settle before you sign. A first meeting with a new accountant will not get through them all, so the guide further down names five to start with. If you are considering an accountant alongside two or three others, put the same handful to each one and the differences show quickly.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Credentials and fit
What are your credentials, and what do they allow you to do for me?
Why ask it
In many places accountant is not a protected title, so the answer separates a CPA, an enrolled agent, a chartered accountant, and a bookkeeper with a certificate. It matters most for representation before tax authorities, which only some of them can do, and the rules differ by country.
What kind of clients do you work with most?
Why ask it
The honest answer is usually narrower than the website: mostly individuals, mostly trades, mostly one software platform. If your situation sits outside that band, you are the client they learn on, at your expense.
Have you taken on someone in a situation like mine, and what did their first year with you look like?
Why ask it
A description of a real first year, with the cleanup, the first filing and the first planning call in it, is harder to improvise than a list of services. Listen for what they changed for that client afterwards, which is the nearest thing to a preview of your own first year.
Which body licenses or regulates you, and where can I check your standing?
Why ask it
Registers kept by a state board or a professional institute are usually public and searchable by name. Looking one up takes a few minutes and also shows whether the license is current in the place where you file.
Which work do you turn away or refer to someone else?
Why ask it
A practice that names its limits, say foreign income, payroll or business valuations, is easier to believe about the work it does accept. The names they refer to also tell you whose standards they respect.
Can you handle filings in every state or country where I have income?
Why ask it
Remote work, a rental somewhere else or customers across a border can each mean a return in a second place. Some practices prepare all of them and some pass the extra one to a partner firm, so find out who signs each.
How do you keep up with rule changes from one year to the next?
Why ask it
Continuing education is a condition of many licenses, so the useful part is the detail: which update they took most recently, and how the change reached their clients. Being able to name one recent change that touched people like you is a good sign.
Has a regulator or professional body ever taken action against you or the firm?
Why ask it
Put it in the same tone as the fee question. Many regulators publish their findings, so what you are checking is that the account given across the table matches what you can read afterwards.
How long have you been in practice, and how long at this firm?
Why ask it
Years on their own settle very little. The second half matters more: a practice that recently merged or changed hands may still be combining systems and getting to know clients it inherited.
Why would I pick you over a larger firm, or a smaller one?
Why ask it
A sole practitioner should be able to say what you gain in access and lose in cover, and a bigger firm what you gain in depth and lose in attention. An answer that admits the trade-off is worth more than one that claims there is none.
The work
Which parts of this work would you do, and which would you hand back to me?
Why ask it
Disappointment often starts at the line between bookkeeping and accounting, with each side assuming the other had it. Get the split explicit: who enters transactions, who reconciles, who chases receipts, who closes the month.
Who will I actually deal with week to week?
Why ask it
In a firm of more than one person, the partner who wins the work is often not the one who does it. Get a name and how long that person has been there, and meet them before you sign if you can.
Who checks the work before it goes out under my name?
Why ask it
A second pair of eyes is the cheapest error control a practice has. With a sole practitioner, find out what stands in for it: a checklist, the software's own diagnostics, or a peer who reads the complicated files.
How many clients does the person on my account carry?
Why ask it
A good accountant with too many files is still slow to answer. If the number sounds high, ask what the busiest two weeks of their year look like and whose work waits.
Is any of my work sent to contractors or an outside processing team?
Why ask it
Sending preparation out is common and is not a fault in itself. What you need to hear is who can open your data, where those people are, and that the firm you hired still answers for the result.
Do we meet in person, or is everything done by phone and portal?
Why ask it
Neither is better. A box of paper receipts and a practice that only takes uploads will frustrate each other within a month, so describe how your records really look and hear what they would want changed.
How do you want documents sent to you, and how do you keep them secure?
Why ask it
If the answer is email attachments, your bank statements and identification numbers will sit in two inboxes indefinitely. Look for a portal, plus a clear line on retention and who inside the practice can open your file.
What do you need from me, and on which dates?
Why ask it
Paperwork arriving late from the client is a common reason a filing gets rushed or extended. Get the list and the cut-off dates in writing, and hear what becomes of your place in the queue if you miss one.
Once you have everything from me, how long until my return is ready?
Why ask it
Turnaround in a quiet month and in the last fortnight before a deadline are two different numbers, so get both. If they sometimes file for more time, ask who decides that and what an extension does and does not postpone where you file.
Will I see everything before it is filed, and how long do I get to read it?
Why ask it
Your name is on what gets filed, whoever prepared it. A few days with the draft, and someone to walk you through the lines you do not recognize, is a fair thing to ask for.
What happens to my work if you are ill or away at a deadline?
Why ask it
A one-person practice needs a named colleague or a standing arrangement with another firm. A larger one needs somebody who has read your file before, which is not the same as somebody who can log in to it.
From what I have sent you so far, what stands out?
Why ask it
A candidate who has actually opened your file will name something: unreconciled accounts, a misposted loan, personal spending mixed into the business. Praise with no detail in it suggests they have not looked.
Fees
What does your fee include, and what falls outside it?
Why ask it
The predictable extras are payroll filings, sales tax or VAT returns, amended returns, notices, and any call that turns into research. Ask for the list of out-of-scope items rather than the list of included ones.
How do you bill, and how often will I see an invoice?
Why ask it
By the hour, a job that runs slow is your cost; on a fixed fee it is theirs, until the assumed scope runs out. Whichever they use, hear what happens when the work goes past what was quoted, and whether invoices come monthly or in one lump after filing.
Can you give me one figure for a normal year, with everything I am likely to need?
Why ask it
A single annual number brings the extras into the open. Write down what they assumed to reach it, such as how many accounts, transactions or returns, since those assumptions are what the next invoice will be argued on.
My records are behind. Is catching up priced separately, and can you cap it?
Why ask it
Catch-up work tends to be quoted apart from the ongoing fee, because nobody knows how far behind the books are until someone opens them. A fixed price or a ceiling is a reasonable request once they have seen a sample month.
Do you charge for a short call or an email question?
Why ask it
If every five-minute question starts a clock, you will ration them, and the questions people ration tend to be about decisions they have not made yet. Some practices include a set amount of contact, so ask where the line sits.
Is there a charge for this first meeting?
Why ask it
Some accountants offer the first conversation free and some bill it as advice. Knowing which one you are in tells you how freely to ask, and whether you should expect to leave with something you can use.
Can I book a single paid session for a one-off question, without signing on for the year?
Why ask it
Plenty of people need an hour on one decision and nothing ongoing. Some practices sell that and some only take full engagements, and advice given without sight of your records will come with caveats worth hearing in full.
What would make the fee go up next year?
Why ask it
Fees mostly rise with complexity: a second business, a rental property, staff, another state or country. Hearing the triggers now lets you tell an earned increase from a quiet one later.
What could I do myself to keep the bill down?
Why ask it
Sorted records, one page on what changed during the year, and replies within a day or two all take hours off the work. An accountant who answers this readily would sooner have a tidy client than a large invoice.
Do you earn commission or referral fees on anything you recommend?
Why ask it
Software companies, payroll providers, lenders and investment firms can all pay people who introduce customers. That need not rule a recommendation out, but you should hear about the payment from the accountant, before you act on it.
For a business
Is my business too small or too large for your practice?
Why ask it
Fit runs in both directions. A firm built for companies with their own finance staff will be expensive for a sole trader, and a practice of household returns can struggle once you have stock, employees and several tax registrations.
What accounting software do you work in, and would I have to change?
Why ask it
Some practices will only work inside one platform, and a migration mid-year costs you a reconciliation headache and often a subscription. Also ask whether the file stays in your account with them invited, or the reverse.
If someone else keeps my books, how do you work with them?
Why ask it
An accountant who inherits another person's bookkeeping either corrects it quietly at your cost or sends it back with notes. Find out which, and whether they will speak to your bookkeeper directly instead of through you.
Do you handle payroll and sales tax or VAT filings, or would I need another provider?
Why ask it
Owners often assume these come with the accountant and learn otherwise at the first deadline. If the practice does not do them, ask who it works alongside and how that provider's figures reach your books.
Would you handle my business and my personal tax together, or as separate jobs?
Why ask it
For an owner the two feed each other, because what you take out of the business lands on your personal return. One practice seeing both tends to catch more, though it may be priced as two engagements.
Would you review how my business is set up, and say when it would be worth changing?
Why ask it
Trading as an individual, a partnership or a company changes the tax, the paperwork and your personal exposure, and what suits you can shift as profit grows. The structures and their names differ by country, and the liability side may need a lawyer too.
How should I be paying myself from the business, and how much should I set aside for tax?
Why ask it
What they say will turn on how the business is set up and on the rules where you file, so expect a few questions back before any figures. A reply worth having ends in amounts and dates you can put in a calendar, not a general instruction to save for tax.
How long does a normal month take to close, and when will I see numbers?
Why ask it
Reports that arrive six weeks after month end are history rather than management information. A firm that names a working day has a process; one that says as soon as we can probably does not.
Which reports would I get, and how often?
Why ask it
A profit and loss statement by itself can hide a cash problem. Ask to see a sample pack with the client's name removed, and check that you could read it without the accountant in the room.
What do you tend to spot in a client's numbers that the owner has missed?
Why ask it
This tests whether they read financial statements or only produce them. Listen for specifics such as margin drift, the timing of cash, or a cost line growing faster than revenue, all things an owner could act on.
Have you prepared figures for a lender or an investor, and to what standard?
Why ask it
A bank or a buyer may want statements that were compiled, reviewed or audited, and those are different levels of work that not every practice is permitted to do. The rules depend on where you are, so ask what they can sign there.
As the business grows, which services would I add, and at what point?
Why ask it
You are checking whether they can stay with you through a first hire, a second location or a sale, or whether you would be looking for a business accountant again in two years. A rough ladder of services and prices is enough.
Advice
How much of what you do for clients is filing, and how much is advice before a decision?
Why ask it
Compliance is a service you can buy almost anywhere. Advice before you sign a lease, hire, or take a distribution is the part that changes outcomes, and it usually has to be paid for deliberately.
If you took me on, what would you look at first?
Why ask it
The reply shows where they think the risk or the money sits in a situation like yours. It also shows whether they listened for the last twenty minutes or are describing the first month every client gets.
Would you look over my last return or two and tell me what you would have done differently?
Why ask it
It is a small piece of real work, and it shows how they think better than a pitch does. How far back a filing can still be corrected depends on where you file, so ask about that in the same breath.
When do you contact me during the year, and about what?
Why ask it
The useful reply is a calendar: a reminder before each instalment or estimated payment where those apply to you, a mid-year check, a conversation before the year closes. Reactive practices only surface in filing season, by which point most decisions are already fixed.
How fast do you reply, and what is your rule for urgent items?
Why ask it
You want a stated number of business days and a named alternative during busy periods. An answer with no number in it leaves you nothing to point to in the weeks around a deadline.
What should I never do without calling you first?
Why ask it
Typical replies are buying a property, changing who owns the business, hiring, and taking a large sum out. Keep the list, because it doubles as the list of calls worth paying for.
Which records should I keep, and for how long?
Why ask it
Retention periods are set by law and vary with the country and the kind of record, so this is one to get in writing. A practice that hands over a one-page list has had the conversation before, and a client who follows it is cheaper to serve.
When you send me numbers, will you walk me through what they mean?
Why ask it
Have them explain one line of a statement or a return now, in ordinary words. An explanation that does not land in the meeting will not land in an email the week before a deadline either.
How cautious are you when a rule can be read two ways?
Why ask it
Some accountants file the safest position every time and some lean toward the client. Neither is wrong, but you should know which you are hiring, and whether they lay out the trade-off or decide it for you.
How would you handle it if I asked you to do something you thought was wrong?
Why ask it
Someone who has never had that conversation with a client has either never been asked or has always agreed. Both are worth knowing before you are the one asking.
Will you work with my lawyer, financial adviser or lender when something crosses over?
Why ask it
A property purchase, a will or a loan application each has a tax side that the other adviser may leave to you. Ask whether those conversations are billed, and whether they wait for your written permission before sharing figures.
Before you sign
Have you handled a tax authority query for a client, and what happened?
Why ask it
The story tells you whether they engage or forward you the letter. Note whether they describe fixing the underlying record keeping afterward, which is the part that stops the next query.
If a tax authority writes to me, are you allowed to answer for me, and is that inside the fee?
Why ask it
Whether an accountant may speak for you depends on the credential they hold and on local rules. Ask what they are permitted to do where you file, and whether the hours are billed on top.
If a mistake happens on your side, what do you cover?
Why ask it
Separate the correction, the penalty, and the interest, and ask whether they carry professional indemnity insurance. A practice that has thought about this answers quickly and will put it in the engagement letter.
Will the scope, the fee and the notice period all be in an engagement letter?
Why ask it
The letter is where everything said in this meeting either becomes a commitment or disappears. Read the parts on liability limits and on what is out of scope, and ask about anything you were told that is not in it.
Is there a minimum term, and how much notice does either of us give?
Why ask it
Monthly arrangements sometimes come with a twelve-month commitment or a charge for leaving partway through a year. That is easier to negotiate now than to discover on the day you want out.
Can I speak with a client whose situation resembles mine?
Why ask it
An accountant owes clients confidentiality, so expect them to seek that person's consent first and allow a few days. Put two things to the reference: how quickly questions get answered in practice, and how a difficult moment was handled.
Why did the last client who left you leave?
Why ask it
Every practice loses clients, so the story is not a mark against them. Listen for whether it was a price dispute, a missed deadline or a client who outgrew the firm, and whether they own any share of it.
If you sell the practice or retire, what happens to my file?
Why ask it
Client lists are sold between practices, and yours could pass to someone you never chose. Ask whether you would be told beforehand, and whether your records could be released to you instead.
If this ends, what do I take with me and how long does the handover take?
Why ask it
You want the software file, the trial balance, depreciation and basis schedules, and prior filings, in usable form. Practices that keep records in proprietary tools or delay handovers make leaving expensive, so establish the terms while you still have leverage.
How to Choose an Accountant
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the First Meeting
Decide Which Job You Are Hiring For
Bookkeeping, statutory filing, tax planning, and business advice are four different purchases that often arrive in one quote. Write down which you need now and which can wait, then make each candidate price them separately. In a bundled fee, the advisory hours are the part most easily dropped without anyone noticing.
Looking for a Business Accountant Is a Different Search
A practice that mostly files household returns and one that runs books, payroll and sales tax for companies share a job title and little else. If you are hiring for a business, start with the questions tagged For a business, and ask to see a sample monthly report pack before anyone talks about price.
Get Your Records Into One Place First
Gather bank statements, prior filings, the current software file, loan documents, and payroll records if you have staff. Candidates who see real numbers can give real quotes, and the ones who spot problems in your existing records show themselves in the first meeting. If you can bring only one thing, make it last year's return, because every candidate can be asked what they would have done differently with it and the replies sit side by side.
Check the Credential With the Issuing Body
Many licensing boards and professional bodies publish member registers and disciplinary records. Confirm the credential and its current standing rather than accepting the letters on a business card, and note whether the license covers the country and state where you actually file.
Interview Three, in the Same Week
Comparison is what makes weak answers visible. Ask each the same five questions, particularly the one about what they found in your records, and the difference between preparation levels will be obvious within a day or two.
The Top Five Questions to Ask a New Accountant
One meeting will not cover the whole list. If an hour is all you have, lead with these: what their credentials allow them to do for you, who you would deal with week to week, what stands out in the records you sent, one figure for a normal year, and what you take with you if it ends. Put the same five to every potential accountant on your shortlist, and write the replies down before the next meeting blurs them.
How to Read the Answers
- Notice whether they ask about your plans rather than only your paperwork. Someone who never asks whether you intend to hire, sell, or borrow cannot advise on any of it.
- A quote that arrives without a scope document is not a quote. It is an opening position.
- Be careful with anyone who promises a specific tax saving before reviewing your filings. Legitimate savings depend on facts they have not seen yet.
- Watch for jargon that never resolves into plain language. If they cannot explain accruals or basis in a sentence you understand, monthly reports will not be useful to you either.
- Reluctance to name the staff member handling your account can mean the account is being handled by whoever is free.
- A strong signal is an unprompted question about your record keeping habits, because those habits drive much of what their work will cost you.
- An accountant who says they would need to check a point before answering is often the safer hire than one with an instant reply to everything. A lot of tax turns on details of your situation that nobody in the room has seen yet.
- Listen to how they talk about the tax authority. Treating a notice as a letter to be answered is ordinary practice; describing every one as a fight, or promising you will never receive one, says something about how they file.
Making the First Three Months Work
- 1Agree the monthly document deadline and put it in your own calendar, not just theirs.
- 2Ask for the first month's reports early, then sit down and go through them line by line until you understand each one.
- 3Separate personal and business accounts completely if you have not already; mixed accounts are a steady source of cleanup billing.
- 4Set the year-end planning meeting date now, at least two months before your year end.
- 5Keep your own copy of every filing and schedule they produce as it is issued.
Common Pitfalls
Assuming the Title Means a Licence
In many places anyone may advertise as an accountant or a tax preparer, while titles such as CPA or chartered accountant are reserved, and which words are protected depends on the country. The consequence is not usually fraud, it is limited standing: an unlicensed preparer may not be able to represent you in an examination, and their work may not satisfy a lender or an investor who asks for reviewed statements.
Buying Compliance and Expecting Advice
A fee that covers a return and a set of statements buys exactly that. If you want a call before you sign a lease or take a distribution, name it in the engagement, put a number on it, and use it. Advisory hours nobody scheduled are advisory hours nobody delivered.
Letting Them Own the Software File
When the accounting file lives in the practice's subscription, leaving can mean exporting a partial copy or paying for a migration. Where the software allows it, hold the subscription in your own name and invite the practice as a user.
Ignoring Capacity Until Deadline Season
Poor service is often a scheduling problem and not a skill problem. Ask how many accounts the person handling yours carries, and what their busiest two weeks look like. A capable accountant who is overloaded will still be hard to reach in the very weeks you need them.
Choosing on Price Alone
The lowest quote is often the narrowest scope. Price a full year with each practice once the calls, the notices and the extra filings are counted, which is what the one-figure question under Fees is for, and compare those totals instead of the headline fee.
Starting the Search in Filing Season
In the weeks before a filing deadline some practices stop taking new clients, and one that still says yes has little time to read a stranger's file. Look in the quiet months where you can, and ask each practice when it closes its list for the year, since the calendar differs by country.